Blending. The Dark Art. I think you could go your whole life and not really master it. Which makes sense since art is like that; perfection is unattainable. During blending trials you’re always worried: Am I capturing the best of this vintage? Or am I covering up distinctiveness? Am I using enough of my juice [...]

Today I had the opportunity to sit with Robert Parker and a room full of other wine industry nuts at CIA Greystone in St. Helena and taste through a flight of 11 different Pinots from California and France blind. I’d been looking forward to this event since I heard about it here, and it did [...]

Copia may be in trouble financially, but they have been scheduling quite a few interesting events lately. The best of the lot is the “Oregon’s Best Pinot Noir” tasting on November 19th which will focus on the Dundee Hills AVA. Producers pouring there will include Argyle, Domaine Drouhin Oregon, Domaine Serene, Erath and Sokol Blosser. [...]